And So It Goes
by Charmista
Summary: A prophecy is about to be fulfilled, bring the end of the world….again. Unless Buffy finds a way to stop it.


Title: And So It Goes  
  
Author: Charmista  
  
Rating: PG-13  
  
Summary: A prophecy is about to be fulfilled, bring the end of the world..again. Unless Buffy finds a way to stop it.  
  
Author's Note: This story is set Season Three.  
  
Disclaimer: I don't own any of the characters in this little story, except for the ones I created. All the rest are owned by Joss and ME.  
  
~And So It Goes~  
  
  
  
Italy 1527  
  
  
  
The sound of her feet pounding on the cobblestone, the sound of her panting for breath, the sound of her strangled cries, all were drowned out by the sounds of the festival nearby. She was tormented by the laughing voices as she ran for her life through the dark alleys of her town.  
  
She tripped on the hem of her skirt and went sprawling on the floor. She struggled to rise as she was slammed from the back. Her face smashed into the ground, and she tasted blood in her mouth. She rolled over and kicked out, trying to connect with the person she saw. Her ankle was grabbed, a cruel laugh escaping the lips of the man standing above her.  
  
"Please," She cried as he bent down. She shrieked as his grotesque face left the shadows, and continued to thrash about as he leaned down to her neck.  
  
"Please," She whispered once more as his teeth sunk into her neck, and his hand ripped a necklace off of it. "Please.."  
  
  
  
California 1999  
  
  
  
"Oh, please," Buffy Summers said sarcastically as she punched away at the pad her Watcher held up for her.  
  
"I know, but that's what she said," Willow informed her from inside a box, where she was rooting around the artifacts that had been delivered to Giles that morning.  
  
"I can not believe her," Buffy said, backing up and spinning into a reverse crescent kick, "I mean, sometimes I wonder if she's even human."  
  
"Who's not human?" Giles said, literally interpreting Buffy's comment.  
  
"Cordelia," Willow clarified.  
  
"Oh, well," Giles said, "Then-" His words were cut off by a particularly brutal punch from Buffy. Giles staggered back, dropping the pad as he regained his breath.  
  
"Sorry!" Buffy said guiltily, wincing as she imagined the pain he'd be in if the pad hadn't been in the way.  
  
"Quite alright," Giles replied, "I think that's enough training for today."  
  
"So I can go?" Buffy's happiness was evident in her cheerful tone of voice.  
  
"I suppose, but I'd like you to patrol tonight," Giles said, stern mixed with lenience as he kept the affection out of his tone.  
  
"Will do," Buffy said, pulling a sweatshirt on over her skimpy workout clothes and grabbing her backpack. Willow jumped up and followed, waving to Giles as she passed him.  
  
"Do you want me to patrol with you tonight?" Willow asked.  
  
"That's okay," Buffy replied, "You've got that physics test tomorrow."  
  
"Well, so do you!" Willow smiled. They walked out of the library, arms linked together, and laughter floating through the air.  
  
A smile, the result of his undeniable fondness for the two, crossed his face as they left. He walked to the box Willow had been inspecting, and pulled out a small wooden box, with engravings on the lid. He inspected them for a moment, before he attempted to open the box. He frowned as the lid refused to come off. He examined the case, and after a few minutes of this he realized that what he thought was a lid was not, and that the bottom of the box slid out. He made it do so, and into his hand fell a thin chain, with a small, red pendant on it.  
  
  
  
"Oof!" Buffy let out a burst of air as the vamp's punch connected with her solar plexus. She spun to the side to avoid his uppercut punch, and punished him with a solid kick to the chin. He staggered back, momentarily stunned. His disorientation was long enough for Buffy not only to regain her breath, but to pull out her stake and thrust it into his heart.  
  
She turned from him, not even waiting for him to turn to dust. In the first year of her tenure as the Slayer, the dusting of a vampire was a fascinating experience. She couldn't fathom how it happened; how one minute they were a human body without the soul and the next they were a small pile of ashes. But now it was such a common occurrence, she didn't wait for the combustion. She left, in search of more baddies to slay.  
  
She found one as she walked the alley by the Bronze. A massive man cornered a tall, willowy girl with blonde hair shimmering in the moonlight. He advanced on her slowly, mumbling something the Slayer couldn't make out. As Buffy opened her mouth to call out, to make some sort of witty remark to draw the vampire's attention away from the girl, she noticed a shape in the corner of her eye. As it lunged at her, she spun and kicked, the second vampire running into it as soon as she had extended her leg for full impact.  
  
"Perfect timing," She noted as the first vamp turned and saw her. He sprang at her quickly, quicker than she had expected, and she just barely dodged his lumbering body. Her hand instinctively reached to his shoulders as he fell past her, and her strength added to his momentum. He fell onto the ground, but Buffy didn't have time to hit him while he lay there. A punch came from her left, but she easily blocked it and slammed a fist into the second vampire's nose. She smiled as the cartilage crunched, and she pulled her arm back for another hit. It was grabbed from behind, and she turned her head to see the girl, the victim, with vamp face on.  
  
"Oh, great, a trick," Buffy sighed, weighing her odds against the three vampires. She decided they were good, and used the vampiress's tight grip on her arm to give her leverage as she jumped and kicked the bleeding face of the vampire in front of her. She wrenched her arm out of the blonde's grasp and used it to backhand her across her cheek. The first vampire, the fat one, has risen from his place on the ground and was coming towards her. The three formed a half-circle around her, and Buffy slowly retreated, but not in fear. She gave herself enough room, and executed a perfect reverse kick, her foot connecting with the left side of each of her opponent's faces.  
  
She slipped the stake out of her arm and quickly stacked the fat one, which left her with two to deal with.  
  
"Damn you, Slayer," The guy hissed, licking his lips, "I'll bet you-" He couldn't finish whatever lewd remark he was about to make, as Buffy attacked. She smiled as a series of punches connected with the vampire's jaw.  
  
"The sun will melt and the stars will fall, the world-" The vamp began. Buffy feinted, and held Mr. Pointy at his chest.  
  
"I've got a test tomorrow. I don't have time for cryptic prophecies," She said, and shoved the stake deep into his heart.  
  
She turned to face the girl, but she had disappeared. Buffy committed the words of the now dusty vamp to memory, and vowed to remember to tell Giles in the morning. 


End file.
